


Who is Arlen?

by JackieSBlake7



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 03:43:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7602055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackieSBlake7/pseuds/JackieSBlake7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some considerations as to what Arlen is doing</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who is Arlen?

On Gauda Prime little or nothing is what it seems - apart from the trees and a situation that at times resembles the proverbial 'war of all against all' where not even the participants are fully aware of who and why they are fighting.

Arlen is probably not her real name nor the roles she presented to Blake or, possibly, her supposed masters nor her real functions. This fluidity can be seen elsewhere Sula Chesku's name and role were equally ambiguous - was she running the rebel group so they could be brought in, or so they would help her in her bid for power/ousting Servalan and be mostly eliminated or sidelined afterwards - or did she genuinely support the rebels? Elsewhere Travis pretends to be Shivan, and Avon uses the name Chevner; in Voice from the Past Blake is externally manipulated, and in episode Traitor Igin is.

Blake at one point on Gauda Prime says he can no longer trust his judgement - perhaps because of this fluidity. He himself is officially a bounty hunter but is still also a rebel or opposition figure and may be planning some sort of intervention with the Federation computers. Deva says that Arlen passed the tests - possibly 'the invented role by the name of Arlen' is designed to do so, but it may be difficult to cover all possibilities.  
It appears at the end of the episode that Blake's hunch and Deva's various investigations have failed - Arlen #is# apparently Federation. (Her claim to be an officer may be an assumption on her part, which may be viable even if Blake's claim turns out to be false - she has discovered a major potential source of disruption, and a base whose computers have access to Federation systems.)  
Arlen has been on the planet long enough to have a reputation (but it may be the role rather than the person holding it): Klyn notes an increase in spaceship traffic, and there is a blockade against #ships coming in#, a discontinuity with the expected arrival of the Federation representative. Could Arlen herself be the representative - another level of bluff? (She may well be linked to the representative if she is not: providing information that does not pass through official sources.)  
Someone, it seems, wishes to keep outsiders from coming to GP. Why - and who were they against? (It might make sense for the Federation - and others in the region - to keep potential undesirables leaving GP and creating havoc elsewhere.)

It is not necessarily obvious that Servalan is the Federation representative going to Gauda Prime - as she was involved with Zukan she probably has to extricate herself from the situation, especially when the others going to the conference on Xenon realise Betafarl is leaderless. When Servalan does get to Xenon base she will find a destroyed base - and probably no clues as to whether anyone has survived or where they went. Nor, given that Servalan tends to work with men, is Arlen an obvious link.

What if the situation on GP were more complex than a Federation takeover of a planet where there are 'locals wanting law and order re-established', 'miscellaneous general undesirables' and 'one particular group of rebels.' interacting? Was 'the role known as Arlen' operating on a much longer timescale than appears from the episode, and Blake's presence on the planet was already known - the 'base takeover group' were already set up - all she had to do was give them an exact location. What is the information about Blake she wishes to tell Deva?

Could Arlen be playing a triple bluff - she appears to be working for the Federation, but fools both local checks and the authorities - as she is she working for someone unexpected?


End file.
